Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “remained silent” on the ethnic violence in Manipur, and asserted the least he could have done is “issue an appeal for peace”.
Speaking in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal said the PM “remains silent” whenever a crisis situation hits the nation.
“In Manipur, there have been 6,500 FIRs between May 3- July 31. At least 4,000 houses were set on fire, 60,000 people have been displaced, over 150 people have been killed, yet the PM has been silent,” Kejriwal said.
“The European Parliament discussed the Manipur issue, even American politicians have talked about the Manipur issue, yet the PM remained silent. And one day, when one video went viral, which showed three women being stripped and paraded naked on the road, and were sexually assaulted, and the PM was still silent,” the Delhi CM added.
“The Prime Minister is like a father figure. He turned his back on the daughters of Manipur. You kept sitting in your room. The entire country is asking the reason for PM’s silence. It is not the first time that he is silent. Whenever there is a crisis situation over the past nine years, the prime minister has remained silent,” Kejriwal alleged.
“In the case of Manipur, he could have at least issued an appeal for peace.”
Talking about the recent protest by women wrestlers against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Delhi CM said the champion grapplers alleged sexual harassment by Singh, but the PM remained silent.
“When they won medals at the Olympics, PM Modi was the first one to click pictures with them. He had told them ‘you are my daughter’. But when they were protesting, he remained silent. At least he could have said, ‘I am there. I will get it inquired into and get people punished’,” said Kejriwal.
He added that India’s top wrestlers had to go to Supreme Court to get an FIR registered.